Carla Bruni accused of intervening to prevent extradition of left-wing terrorist to her native Italy

TV host claims French first lady asked 'personal favour' of former Brazilian president

Beseechful: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is alleged to have directly intervened in the case of Cesare Battisti by asking the Braziiian president not to extradite him to Italy

France's first lady Carla Bruni has been accused of intervening to prevent the extradition of a left wing terrorist convicted of four murders from Brazil to Italy.

Former model Bruni, 43, was accused by an Italian victim support group of personally calling Brazilian ex-president Luiz Lula and asking him not to send Cesare Battisti back to face justice in his native country.

She is said to have told Lula that it would be a 'personal favour' to her and today her intervention has been condemned by Italian politicians.

The claim was made on Italian TV by Bruno Berardi, president of Domus Civitas, a support group for victims of terrorism and the mafia who said he had been personally told by Bruni about the telephone call.

Berardi said she confirmed the details during a meeting in Paris, after it emerged that Bruni had also intervened in preventing the extradition of another left wing terrorist Marina Petrella from France to Italy three years ago.

France had refused to extradite seriously ill Petrella on 'humanitarian grounds' and Berardi said: 'Bruni told me that she had personally called Lula asking him not to extradite Battisti as a personal favour.

'She asked me not to reveal any details during a conversation the two of us had and which was also attended by president (Nicolas) Sarkozy's secretary.

'I have never told anyone about this but seeing as we have reached the point where we are now and all hope of extraditing Battisti is lost I have decided to speak.'

Italy has been trying to extradite terrorist Battisti from Brazil for three years after he fled there from France.

He has been convicted in his absence of carrying out four murders with his armed communist terror group in the Seventies and sentenced to life. He denies playing a part in all the killings.

Guilty: Cesare Battisti, seen here surrounded by policemen after arriving in Brasilia in 2007, has been convicted in his absence of four murders and given four life sentences

However Lula, who retired from office on New Year's Eve, has constantly refused to allow the extradition despite pressure from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who is one of his closest allies.

Daniela Santanche, a member of Berlusconi's right wing coalition and who led a protest outside the Brazilian embassy in Rome, said: 'If it is confirmed that Carla Bruni intervened she should be ashamed of herself.'

Defence minister Ignazio La Russa said:'If Carla Bruni did intervene then I will have no hesitation in taking her to task.'

Affront: Italians in their hundreds demonstrate outside the Brazil embassy in Piazza Navona in Rome

It is not the first time that Bruni is said to have intervened in the Battisti case - last year Brazilian senator Eduardo Suplicy also claimed she had intervened but she appeared on Italian TV to deny it.

No go: Former Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva consistently refused to extradite Battisti back to Italy

Bruni's involvement in the Petrella case, which was confirmed at the time by French officials, surprised many in Italy given the fact her family had fled Italy in the early 1970s over terrorism fears.

In the early 1970s the Bruni Tedeschi family fled their native Turin for France because they feared being kidnapped by Red Brigades terrorist during the so called 'years of lead'.

During that time politicians, industrialists and police were often targeted by the Red Brigades and hundreds of people were killed and injured.

Many of the left-wing Red Brigades militants fled to France, benefiting from a policy instituted under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand accepting them if they renounced their extremist pasts.

However, over the past years, conservative French governments have moved away from Mitterrand's policy.

Bruni today said: 'I have never intervened in favour of Cesare Battisti. I
disassociate myself categorically with any comments made about me
concerning Battisti.

'The wave of violence that shook Italy during my infancy struck me
greatly and I have a very precise memory of it and I condemn all forms
of terrorism.'

Battisti has refugee status in Brazil but is currently in prison although he is expected to be freed shortly but Italy is trying to block his release and take the case to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Still hoping: Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, left, meets Alberto Torregiani, son of Pierluigi Torregiani, a jeweler murdered by far-left PAC group allegedly run by Battisti in the 1970s

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Carla Bruni accused of intervening to prevent extradition of left-wing terrorist to her native Italy